, Troilus and Criseyde (Wikisource, The Free Library, 2008). View Source Online

Text name(s): Troilus and Criseyde

Number of pages of primary source text: 0

Medieval Author(s): Chaucer, Geoffrey

Dates: 1385 - 1385

Archival Reference:

Original Language(s): English - Middle English;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region:

Apparatus:

Comments:

Considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the English language, Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in the 1340s. He was a page in the household of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, who was married to Prince Lionel, one of King Edward III’s sons, and fought in France in 1359. After that he served Edward as a messenger and diplomat, customs agent, clerk of the king’s works (where he oversaw construction and renovation of the king’s houses and properties), and Justice of the Peace. His literary career began in translating works such as the Romance of the Rose and Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy into English, and his first original work, the Book of the Duchess, was written in 1369-70. He died in or around 1400 and his tomb can be seen today in Westminster Abbey. The poem reproduced here, Troilus and Criseyde, is a courtly romance retelling the tragic love story of a Trojan prince and his beloved. This work seems to have been inspired by Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato. In turn, Chaucer’s poem inspired Shakespeare’s rendition of the story. Wikisource should be used cautiously since it can be edited by casual readers and lacks any indication of the pagination in the source text. To consult the definitive edition of this text see: Larry D. Benson and F. N. Robinson, eds., The Riverside Chaucer (Boston, 1987).

Introduction Summary:

Cataloger: SES